Rock mark fishing

Top 6 rock mark fishing areas

The rugged shoreline of Pembrokeshire offers outstanding opportunities for anglers.

Here are just a few of the many productive spots for rock fishing.

Monkstone Point

Almost midway between Saundersfoot and Tenby, Monkstone Point is a good rock mark for bass fishing. Care is necessary because it is easy to get cut off by the rising tide. All the usual bass baits are effective here, but peeler crabs or fresh sand eels are hard to beat.

The rocks around the headland have a history of providing good float fishing for wrasse, pouting, three-bearded rockling and, of course, garfish and mackerel.

Giltar Point

Fishes well for a couple of hours either side of low water, when bass can be caught on float using sand eel or crab. Rotten-bottom rigs are advisable due to the rough ground. During strong currents through the sound, spinning or lure fishing is preferable to bottom or float fishing. Other common species here include pollack, mackerel, garfish, wrasse, rockling and the occasional small conger.

St Davids Head

Great for pollack and mackerel on float tackle; when they move close to shore, sharks sometimes follow. It’s mostly rough ground with kelp, so expect to lose some tackle when ledgering. Congers lurk in the depths and take squid baits, as will bull huss and pollack. Ballan and small cuckoo wrasse often take crab or limpet baits close to shore. Expect plenty of dogfish in late summer and autumn.

A moderate cast takes your bait in deep towards big congers. On spring tides you can lose tackle on the rocky seabed, so it’s best to concentrate on slack water. Good for mackerel and garfish; great for conger, huss, pollack, wrasse and occasional ling early in the year. Sandeels or mackerel strips are excellent baits for bull huss, while big conger will take chunks of squid or whole mackerel.

The rocks on the southern side provide excellent float fishing and spinning. Mackerel, pollack and wrasse are plentiful either side of high tide, while flounders can be caught on ragworm or lugworm baits cast out. Bass move in on spring tides and can be taken by spinning or float fishing with peeler crab. This area is popular with walkers and so it is unsafe for fly fishing at busy times.